Major League Baseball Betting Precedes The Cry Of ‘Play Ball’
June 18, 2008
The marathon Major League Baseball betting season starts at the end of this month but for those gamblers for whom the cry of “play ball” can’t come soon enough or for those other bettors who consider the 2,430-game diamond campaign little more than a walk in the (ball)park, future book wagering is available right now.
As it always does, action on which team will win the 2008 World Series, and, to a lesser extent, which teams will capture American and National League pennants and division titles, dominates future book activity.
Not surprisingly, the defending champion Red Sox opened as 4/1 favorites to win the 2008 World Series. New York’s two teams, the Mets and Yankees, along with the Tigers, appear to be Boston’s main competition. The Mets, who made the most significant acquisition of the off-season when they acquired Twins ace Johan Santana, are listed at 9/2 to capture the October Classic. The Yankees, who finished two games behind the Bosox in the American League East before being bounced out of the post-season by the Indians last year, are held at odds of 6/1. Detroit, which bolstered its team with the additions of P Dontrelle Willis and 3B Miguel Cabrera, are a threat at 9/2.
It’s double digits on everyone else, including 11/1 on Cleveland, 12/1 on the Los Angeles Angels, 14/1 on the Chicago Cubs and 16/1 on the Arizona Diamondbacks.
At odds of 150/1, Florida, Baltimore and Pittsburgh are your longshots.
Pennant odds follow with the Red Sox (9/4), Yankees (3/1) Tigers (7/2), Indians (6/1) and Angels (7/1) judged most likely to wave the American League flag.
The Mets are 2/1 to get the job done in the National League with the Cubs (6/1), Diamondbacks (13/2) and Dodgers (7/1) eyeing an upset.
As for the division races, it’s the Red Sox (4/5) over the Yankees (5/4) in the AL East; the Tigers (5/6) over the Indians (7/5) in the AL Central; and the Angels (2/5) ahead of the packs in the AL West.
The Mets (4/11) are odds on to win the NL East; the Cubs (10/11) are a likewise favorite in the NL Central; and it’s a four-team race in the most competitive division in baseball, the NL West, with Arizona and LA both at 2/1, Colorado at 3/1 and San Diego at 7/2.
In addition to World Series, pennant and division odds, inventive sportsbooks have devised several other ingenious ways to help separate bettors from their money.
Nearly every sportsbook has over/under numbers for each team’s wins during the regular season. Boston leads the pack with 94 1/2 regular season victories, with the bettor forced to lay -115 (bet $115 to win $100) on either the “over” or the “under.”
Also highly regarded are the Mets, Yankees and Tigers, all at 93 1/2 wins.
At the other end of the wins list is Baltimore with an over/under of just 66. The Orioles may not be the worst team in Major League Baseball but having to play both Red Sox and the Yankees 19 times apiece will wear on your record.
Many sportsbooks also offer the bettor odds on which of two teams will win more games during the regular season. Of particular interest are teams within the same geographic area, such as the Mets and Yankees (pick ‘em); Cubs (-8 wins) versus the White Sox; and Angels (-3 1/2 wins) versus the Dodgers.
There are odds on regular season series wins between rivals such as the Red Sox at -150 and Yankees at +120 (bet $100 to win $120) and Tigers (-135) and Indians (+105), among many others.
There are matchup odds between a variety of individual players for hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases, pitching victories and saves.
Many sportsbooks also boast futures on which player will lead the Major Leagues in home runs and which pitcher will have the most wins.
Detailed-oriented baseball bettors will take note that while a player-friendly dime line is used for day-to-day game wagering, a 30-cent line is utilized for most future book head-to-head betting. Of course, the 30-cent line has more vigorish and is more advantageous for the house.
That said, gamblers intent on savoring some pre-season Major League Baseball betting probably won’t let a little extra juice get in the way of their wagering.
This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online.
Ncaa Bracket Betting
June 18, 2008
NCAA basketball is in full swing but, arguably, the two best wagering days of the year, the NCAA bracket opening rounds of the Men’s Basketball Championship, March 20 ands 21, are in the sights of every March Madness betting fan.
While those 32 NCAA bracket opening round match-ups won’t be revealed to college basketball betting devotees until the Selection Committee unveils the 65-team field (there’s a play-in game in Dayton, Mar. 18) on Mar. 16, gamblers can get an early rush for their money by investing in March Madness futures.
Many sportsbooks have lists that include far more than the 65 teams that eventually will have an opportunity to snip down the nets in the Alamodome, in San Antonio, April 7 but while there’s a moderate risk that your NCAA bracket selection won’t make the final cut, there’s also the chance to secure a team at a much better price than you’ll get when the tournament starts.
A March Madness future book exists on its own as a valid sports betting tool but savvy gamblers also understand that having a handful of teams to win it all also allows them the option of making a money line bet on the other team if one of their future book selections makes it all the way to the championship game. What’s more, holding a few future book ducats can provide flexibility for the bettor who wants to broaden his wagering net to include propositions such as betting on a regional winner.
Prices on highly regarded teams such as North Carolina, Memphis, UCLA, Michigan State, Tennessee, Kansas, Duke, Georgetown and Louisville aren’t likely to change much since these teams already have assured themselves a spot in the Big Dance.
The value will be in trying to find so-called “bubble teams,” those outfits that have yet to play themselves into the tournament but, if they do, will be a much shorter price than they are now.
History tells us that outside seeds haven’t much of a chance to win it all but teams in the middle of the pack cannot be discounted.
Teams such as BYU, Connecticut, Maryland, Clemson, Marquette, Kent State, Oklahoma, Mississippi State and Arkansas could be in that category.
Future book betting odds vary greatly from sportsbook to sportsbook but at least one wagering watering hole listed BYU at 125/1. The Cougars are the best in the Mountain West Conference and boast a victory over Louisville.
UConn has been a pleasant surprise in the ultra-competitive Big East and 35/1 looks attractive.
Maryland and Clemson don’t get the ink that ACC stalwarts Duke and North Carolina do but both the Terrapins and the Tigers, each at 60/1, are inviting longshots. Maryland owns a win over North Carolina while Clemson has beaten top 25 teams Mississippi State and Purdue.
Some believe that Marquette is worth a wager at odds of 40/1. The Golden Eagles have taken down Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Wisconsin and don’t have a “bad loss” on their resume.
Kent State is the class of the Mid-America’s Eastern Division and at 300/1 would be a giant score.
Oklahoma sometimes gets lost in the Big 12 shuffle but wins over Gonzaga, Arkansas, Baylor and West Virginia attest to the Sooners’ ability. A future book price of 60/1 is tempting.
SEC rivals Mississippi State and Arkansas also rate a look. The Bulldogs, 50/1, have split two games with Arkansas and shown that they can win on the road, a factor sure to impress the Selection Committee. The Razorbacks, also 50/1, have defeated four quality teams, Baylor, Mississippi State, Oral Roberts and Mississippi.
Other intriguing longshots include Rhode Island, 250/1; West Virginia, 50/1; Baylor, 200/1; Ohio State, 60/1; and Arizona State, 150/1.
We’ll get to the NCAA bracket soon enough. Until we do, a March Madness future book wager or two should scratch your college basketball betting itch.
This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online.
Gamblers Seek Formula For F1 Betting
June 18, 2008
F1 betting may not be the equal of NASCAR wagering in the United States but the motor sport, which revs up for the opening of its 59th season in Melbourne, Australia, March 16, boasts an international following that is not only passionate but a favorite of gamblers across the globe.
As evidence of the former we offer the odd case of the man in Finland who nearly a decade ago shot and killed his mother because she shut off the television while he was watching two-time F1 world champion and national driving hero Mika Hakkinen compete in a Grand Prix event.
Although they’re no less passionate, gratefully, bettors of the sport are demonstratively less violent, preferring to take their shots at a pair of future books and a series win and proposition bets that are offered on each of the 18 races that stretch from March to November, making stops in Australia, Asia, Europe and South America.
Last year’s F1 campaign produced a thrilling three-way battle among Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso with Raikkonen (110 points) edging Hamilton (109 points) and Alonso (109 points) on the final race day.
Not surprisingly, those three drivers, along with Felipe Massa, who was a close fourth in 2007, again are the men to beat in 2008.
Raikkonen was the favorite at each of the 17 sportsbooks surveyed, though not by much. A winner of an F1 best six race events last season, Raikkonen was offered at odds of 7/5 or 3/2 at most books. Massa, his Ferrari teammate, was listed at 9/2 or 5/1. Hamilton, who drives for McClaren, was listed at about 2/1 while Alonso, who pilots a Renault, was being shopped at odds ranging from 5/1 to 7/1.
Raikkonen, Hamilton, Alonso and Massa accounted for every victory on the F-1 circuit last year so if you’re interested in investing some hard-earned cash on anyone else, you’ll be wagering on a driver more than a year removed from a Formula One win.
As the individual races unfold, sportsbooks will be proffering odds not just on the winner of each race but whether a driver makes the podium (top three) and who wins the pole position leading up to each event.
What’s more, since F1 racing is as much about the cars as the drivers, nearly every sportsbook worth its spark plugs also offers wagering on which automobile manufacturer will amass the most points. Ferrari, which won last year for the first time since 2004, is an odds-on pick, usually at 2/3, to defend its title in what is called the Constructors Championship. McClaren, with drivers Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen, is the 7/4 second choice with Renault, with wheelmen Alonso and Nelson Piquet, Jr., is offered at 7/1.
Two new street circuits will be introduced to the Formula One schedule this year, the Valencia Street Circuit, which will host the European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain, Aug. 24, and the Singapore Street Circuit, site of the Singapore Grand Prix in that country, Sept. 28. Serious handicappers will want to take note that the Singapore Grand Prix will be the first Formula One event held at night.
Interestingly, if F1 racing executives want to continue to widen their appeal to the American market, they’re going about it in the wrong way since the United States Grand Prix will not return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year.
National pride aside, you can expect gamblers in the United States to join those around the world in some passionate and enthusiastic F1 betting this year.
This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online.
Horse Racing: Kentucky Derby Not For The Faint-Hearted
June 17, 2008
The horse racing odds and the potential payoffs can be enormous but the risks also are substantial, making Kentucky Derby future book betting on the 134th running of the mile-and-a-quarter classic at Churchill Downs, May 3, a gambling pursuit not doctor-recommended for cardiac patients.
Crusty horse racing veterans recall with regret the 1962 Kentucky Derby future book, at that time called the “winter book,” when Sir Gaylord, who some obtained at odds of 20/1 or more after a solid but less than overwhelming 2-year-old campaign, was the 3/5 winter book choice a day before the Run for the Roses. But Sir Gaylord, who eight years later would be joined at Meadow Stud by a precocious half-brother named Secretariat, suffered a hairline fracture of the sesamoid bone and was retired before the race, having won 10 of 18 lifetime starts. Those who had gleefully taken odds of 20/1 or more on a 3/5 shot could only watch in wagering horror as Decidedly, a colt who Sir Gaylord had beaten in the Everglades Stakes weeks earlier, won the 1962 Kentucky Derby.
Of course, such horse racing setbacks, while cruel and disappointing, have done little to dissuade bettors from pursuing their wagering dreams. In fact, Kentucky Derby futures, which date back to at least 1897 when, in a Jan. 28 article, The New York Times reported that the winter book oddsmaker Turf Exchange had opened Typhoon II as the 6/1 favorite in a field of 95 eligible horses, have become an even more popular betting option for serious horseplayers.
For example, many sportsbooks offer odds on over 400 horses. With that many 3-year-olds, some horses are listed at odds of 500/1 or more. Still, the vigorish is substantial and, as in the Sir Gaylord example, if your choice does not make it to the race, as all but a maximum of 20 horses foaled in 2005 will do, you lose.
With that caveat, bettors still looking to snare a potential contender at overlay odds know now is the time when most 3-year-olds begin their preparation for the first Saturday in May.
Any list of Derby eligible horses starts with War Pass, the undefeated 2-year-old champion of a year ago who was scheduled to make his first start of his 3-year-old campaign in Florida in late February. Given a pedigree that some plasma pundits claim lacks stamina, bettors may want to avoid a short price on War Pass, who is trained by Nick Zito, a two-time winner of the Kentucky Derby.
Another top contender is Pyro, a recent winner of the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds. But bettors may not want single-digit odds on a colt who was beaten three straight races a year ago by War Pass. Pyro is trained by Steve Asmussen, the conditioner of 2007 Horse of the Year, Curlin.
Other 3-year-olds drawing attention (and dollars) are Court Vision, Colonel John and El Gato Malo. Court Vision won the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct in November and also is looking for a late February start in Florida. Colonel John and El Gato Malo are California based, meaning they’ve been running on synthetic surfaces, cause for concern, perhaps, given that Churchill Downs offers a traditional dirt track.
Anak Nakal, the winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club, and Cool Coal Man, an allowance winner at Gulfstream, join top stable mate War Pass as contenders from the Zito barn.
Eclipse Award winning trainer Todd Pletcher, who had five colts entered in last year’s 20-horse Kentucky Derby field, has at least a couple of strong contenders for this year’s running. The best may be Monba, a so-called “wiseguy” future book selection that several shrewd bettors seem to admire. Another Pletcher trainee is Cowboy Cal, who might be better suited to run on the grass.
There are two theories for Kentucky Derby future book betting. One is to bet early, taking big prices on developing horses. It’s risky but the rewards can be substantial. The more conservative approach is to at least wait until the horses have raced once or twice, and then take a stab.
Whatever horse racing approach you take, Kentucky Derby future book betting definitely is not for the faint of heart.
This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.thegreek.com.
Key To Successful Nfl Betting? Stay With A Winner
June 17, 2008
Before burying the recently concluded NFL season, savvy gamblers will want to sift through those decaying bones to determine if the gridiron carcass left any clues that could be used to uncover a successful NFL betting strategy when the 2008 campaign kicks off in September.
One angle that has clicked for several straight years again took the blue ribbon in 2007: If you want to be an NFL betting winner, bet a winner. Simply, teams that were straight up (SU) winners on the field also were highly successful at the windows, against the spread (ATS).
In fact, of the 13 teams that posted regular season winning records, 12 of them also had winning marks against the spread. The 13th team, the Washington Redskins, was .500 ATS, meaning that no team with a straight up winning record had a losing record against the spread. The overall pointspread log for these 13 teams was 126-77-5, a 62.0 win percentage, a figure for which any NFL betting enthusiast would sell his throwback jersey.
Yes, hindsight always is 20/20 but was it so difficult to predict that teams such as the Patriots, Colts, Chargers, Seahawks and Cowboys would have straight up winning records? Some shrewd bettors even allowed the oddsmakers and bookmakers to do their homework for them, relying on regular season over/under win total propositions as the basis for their wagers. The above-mentioned teams all had totals of 10 victories or more entering last season.
On the other cleat, of the 15 teams that had straight up losing records, only one, the Buffalo Bills, had a winning mark against the spread. Maybe it was the snow that was the great pointspread equalizer in Buffalo.
Those 15 teams were 92-141-7 against the spread, a cover percentage of .394, meaning that those who wisely bet against those teams collected on more than 60 percent of their wagers.
Predictably enough, the four teams that finished with straight up .500 records also were right around that mark against the spread.
NFL TEAMS WITH REGULAR SEASON SU WINNING RECORDS
New England Patriots 16-0 10-6
Indianapolis Colts 13-3 9-7
Jacksonville Jaguars 11-5 11-5
Cleveland Browns 10-6 12-4
Seattle Seahawks 10-6 9-6-1
Tennessee Titans 10-6 8-7-1
Washington Redskins 9-7 7-7-2
NFL TEAMS WITH REGULAR SEASON SU LOSING RECORDS
Miami Dolphins 1-15 5-9-2
Oakland Raiders 4-12 6-10
Atlanta Falcons 4-12 7-8-1
Baltimore Ravens 5-11 3-13
New Orleans Saints 7-9 6-10
Detroit 7-9 6-9-1
Carolina 7-9 8-8
Total (15 teams) 79-161 92-141-7
NFL TEAMS WITH REGULAR SEASON SU .500 RECORDS
Houston Texans 8-8 8-8
Minnesota Vikings 8-8 7-7-2
Total (4 teams) 32-32 32-30-2
So, when it comes to NFL betting, if you want to be a winner, bet a winner.
This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.thegreek.com.
Wynn Revitalized Las Vegas Casino, Gambling And Sports Betting Industy
June 17, 2008
Las Vegas always has been a city built on hopes and aspirations but only a handful of true visionaries have had a unique and lasting impact of the growth and direction of this desert outpost. Of the four pillars of Las Vegas innovation, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, Howard Hughes and Liberace are gone but one architect remains, a man who continues to reinvent this unique city to this day.
Part 4: The Man Who Reinvigorated Las Vegas.
Steve Wynn was still a couple of years shy of becoming a teenager in 1952 when he stood on a dusty patch of desert highway called the Strip and listened intently as his father, a Maryland bingo parlor operator, told him of his dream of expanding his business there. Michael Wynn died in 1963 but his dream - and then some - never left the mind of his innovative son. It would take 26 years but Steve Wynn would realize his father’s dream.
Typically, Wynn’s first steps into gaming weren’t timid ones. In the early 1970s, using money he’d earned in the family business, Wynn purchased a parcel of real estate adjacent to Caesars Palace from Howard Hughes. The next year he sold the land to Caesars for a profit of $760,000. He used the money to accumulate stock in the downtown Golden Nugget and, by 1973, at the age of 31, was the youngest casino chairman in the history of Las Vegas.
Wynn next turned his attention to Atlantic City, paying $8.5 million for the Strand Hotel. He promptly demolished the Strand and built another Golden Nugget which, in 1987, he then sold to Bally’s for a record $440 million.
Flushed with optimism and with his father’s dream still kicking around in his head, Wynn then returned to Las Vegas, a city which, despite its gaming persona, still was in search of an identity. Wynn defined it.
He did it by building The Mirage, a $630 million all-inclusive complex that he promised “would have mystique, like a lady half-dressed.” It did.
The birth of The Mirage in 1989 redefined Las Vegas as the ultimate tourist destination, the home of wondrous new sights and experiences, where casino gambling and sports betting were the main but not the only attractions. A tropic paradise of waterfalls and foliage, luxury accommodations, gourmet restaurants, a rain forest, an exploding volcano, a swanky shopping mall, rare white tigers, an aquarium with bottle-nosed dolphins, and the city’s most spectacular - and expensive - show, Siegfried & Roy, there never had been anything quite like it. In fact, Wynn was forced to add a new term to the gaming lexicon just to describe The Mirage. He called it a “megaresort.”
Suddenly, the Strip, which had not seen significant growth in several years, was awash in megaresort projects. In the eight years immediately after Wynn first unveiled his plans to build The Mirage, other would-be entrepreneurs played follow-the-leader, adding 30,000 rooms and $3 billion worth of investments to the Strip.
The success of The Mirage spawned the Excalibur, the castle-configured casino with 4,000 rooms. Then came Luxor, a pyramid-shaped property next door to the Excalibur. Hardly content to watch others build, in October of 1993, Wynn added another property of his own, Treasure Island, a pirate-themed facility adjacent to The Mirage. Two months later the city welcomed the MGM Grand, with 5,005 rooms, the largest hotel, er, megaresort, in the world.
Wynn would later build Bellagio, on the site of the old Dunes Hotel on the corner of Flamingo Road and Las Vegas Boulevard and, most recently, Wynn Las Vegas, his high-end signature property that now stands on land where the Desert Inn once stood.
“Nevada’s advantage is… that we have the creative genius of people like Steve,” said former Governor Bob Miller.
Wynn, the architect of the modern Las Vegas gaming and sports betting expansion, just smiled at the remark, comfortable with the presence (and accolades) of elected officials. In fact, Wynn has golfed with many politicians, including Arizona Senator Sen. John McCain, the presumptive 2008 presidential nominee of the Republican Party.
So how did it feel to rub elbows with the power elite?
McCain never said.
This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.thegreek.com.
Liberace Has Strong Link To Gambling And Sports Betting Industry
June 17, 2008
Entertainment became linked with Las Vegas in the 1940s when savvy city planners and casino entrepreneurs rightly reasoned that even hard-edged gamblers would need an occasional respite from the drudgery of table games and the challenge of sports betting that had lured them to this desert outpost in the first place. Of the many who came to sing, dance and tell jokes was one so unique that he set the standard for the glitzy performances that have become the city’s staple. He joins Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and Howard Hughes as the third of four men who helped make Las Vegas the most unique city in the world.
Part 3: The Man Who Played Las Vegas.
Although classically trained and universally recognized as one of the foremost pianists in the world, Walter Valentino Liberace, the recipient of six gold record albums and two Emmy Awards, became even better known as the symbol of Las Vegas entertainment, a flamboyant, over-the-top performer who represented the scorned image of wretched excess often associated with many of Las Vegas’ stage acts.
It is perhaps ironic that Liberace, who first performed in Las Vegas in 1942 and whose talent on the keyboards was without dispute, nevertheless helped pave the way for a succession of marginal performers who offered more style than substance to their audiences. Without Liberace, there probably never could have been a Charo, a Lola Falana, or the slew of Elvis impersonators who continue to earn their livings in the city that brazenly refers to itself as “the Entertainment Capital of the World.”
But marginal musicians and singers weren’t the only beneficiaries of Liberace’s conscious, if insidious, pushing of the Las Vegas entertainment envelope.
In a city where reality is no closer than the next bus ride home and the unexpected now has become the anticipated, illusionists such as David Copperfield, Siegfried & Roy, and Lance Burton owe a measure of their success, if not their very existence, to Liberace’s underrated ability to transcend the boundaries of traditional entertainment.
And it’s something less than a stretch to suggest that the audience’s acceptance of Liberace’s effeminate manner cleared the path for the acquiescence of such long-running gender-bender acts as Boylesque and La Cage.
Through it all - the ostentatious sequined gowns, the ever-present candelabra, the gaudy gems, the spectacular pianos, the shtick that overwhelmed the music - Liberace understood what he was doing.
“I’m the first to admit my stage costumes have become a very expensive joke but I have fun with them and the audience shares that fun with me,” he said.
But Liberace, who died in 1987 at age 67, had a serious side, too. In 1976 he created the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts which, over the years, has funded over $5 million in scholarships to 2,200 students at 110 colleges and universities across the nation.
In 1979, Liberace also built the Liberace Museum, a fantasyland for adults comprised of a trio of buildings located in southeast Las Vegas. Walking through the non-profit museum, one can easily imagine how Alice felt when she first peered through the looking glass. The museum, which is stocked with mementos and items from Liberace’s professional and personal life (though it’s not easy to tell the two apart) has little relevance to most people’s reality. In other words, it fits perfectly in Las Vegas.
Liberace wasn’t a visionary in the mold of Siegel or Hughes but he was as much an innovator, bringing a new, bolder type of entertainment to Las Vegas that transformed the industry and attracted people, many of who didn’t fit the prototype of the average gambler, to the city. After one of his shows, these same folks would hit the slots and table games and engage in sports betting, an unexpected but welcomed part of the legacy that is Liberace’s enduring influence on Las Vegas.
This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.thegreek.com.
Visit The Greek Sports Book for more Sportsbook Articles and Sports Betting information.
GENIUS OR MADMAN, HOWARD HUGHES ALTERED THE GAMBLING ANDSPORTS BETTING INDUSTRY
June 17, 2008
By the mid 1960s, Las Vegas was well on its way to establishing itself as the gaming and sports betting capital of the world. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t room for another visionary to challenge the status quo and expand the concept of those who had come before him. Of the many daring dreamers and schemers who have left their legacy in this desert oasis, here’s a look at one of the four men who really made an impact.
Part 2: The Man Who Bought Las Vegas.
Early in his life he was known as a swashbuckling aviator, a playboy who romanced Hollywood actresses and Las Vegas showgirls, a shrewd and often ruthless businessman who parlayed an oil drilling bit into one of the world’s great fortunes, and the man who had designed a special uplift bra for the actress Jane Russell to wear in the motion picture, “The Outlaw.”
By his twilight years he had degenerated into a pathetic, paranoid, long-haired, straggly bearded, reclusive billionaire so fearful of disease he avoided all human contact, spending most of his time alone in a darkened room, surrounded by boxes of Kleenex and covered only by a bed sheet. When the end mercifully came, April 5, 1976, at the age of 70, at 3,000 feet aboard an airplane out of Acapulco bound for Houston, his once sturdy, 6-foot, 4-inch frame carried a mere 90 pounds.
But somewhere between the genuine genius and the mystifying madness was the real Howard Hughes, the man who tried to buy Las Vegas and mold it in his image. The amazing part is that he nearly got away with it.
Hughes was a month shy of his 61st birthday when he arrived in Las Vegas by train from Boston and took up residency on the top floor of the Desert Inn, Nov. 27, 1966. Only six months earlier, Hughes had sold TWA, the fledgling airline he had first bought for $1 million in 1939, for $546 million. Meanwhile, his Hughes Aircraft Co., which produced weapons for the US government, was valued at $1 billion and his Hughes Tool Company would fetch an additional $150 million in 1972. There also was a Hughes helicopter division, Hughes Air-West, a television station in New York, an architectural firm, as well as substantial property holdings in California and the Bahamas.
Howard Hughes was a very rich man.
So when Moe Dalitz, the feisty owner of the Desert Inn, sought to make good on a promise from Hughes that the billionaire would vacate his hotel by Christmas, instead of moving out, Hughes bought him out. It was the beginning of Hughes’ attempt to make Las Vegas his own private Monopoly board.
Under the umbrella of his huge conglomerate, Summa Corporation, Hughes quickly acquired the Frontier, Castaways, Landmark, Silver Slipper and Sands hotel-casinos in Las Vegas as well as Harold’s Club in Reno. Hughes also negotiated to purchase Caesars Palace, the Dunes, Stardust and Riviera in Las Vegas, Harrah’s in Reno and Lake Tahoe, and Harvey’s in Lake Tahoe. Pressure from the federal government in the form of possible anti-trust action against him probably prevented those sales but Hughes consoled himself with 2,000 mining claims in the state, 30,000 acres of real estate, including most of the land around the airport, and another TV station.
Because of the hundreds of millions of dollars he invested in the Las Vegas valley, money that revitalized a stagnant if not decaying industry, Hughes expected, and usually received, preferential treatment. Hence, his casinos were dutifully licensed despite the fact that Hughes refused to appear before gaming authorities, much less be photographed–something that hadn’t occurred since 1957 - fingerprinted or interviewed.
After four year, Hughes left Las Vegas, not only annoyed that he had failed to control every aspect of the city’s destiny, but melancholy and fearful that his many contributions to Las Vegas’ growth and prosperity might go unappreciated.
“So now I wind up a supposedly successful businessman who has wrecked his health and consumed the best part of his life in the process,” writes Hughes in Citizen Hughes, a biography by Michael Drosnin which explores the eccentric billionaire through internal memos and notes in Hughes’ own hand. “I can’t help but feel I must have given something to this community.”
Gazing upon the gambling and sports betting wonderland that is today’s Las Vegas, of this there can be no doubt.
Next, Part 3: The Man Who Played Las Vegas.
This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.thegreek.com.
Visit The Greek Sports Book for more Sportsbook Articles and Sports Betting information.
Bugsy Siegel And Las Vegas
June 17, 2008
From its legal inception in 1931, Las Vegas’ gaming and sports betting industry has been built on the dreams and imagination of people who have had the courage to question the status quo. But while many a daring dreamer has left his legacy in this desert oasis, four men stand out.
Part 1: The Man Who Invented Las Vegas.
It was on the night of June 20, 1947, that nine bullets from a .30-.30 carbine ripped through the living room window of socialite Virginia Hill’s home on 810 North Linden Drive in Beverly Hills. The first shot crashed into the man’s head, driving the victim’s right eye from his skull and hurling it 15 feet across the room. The other shots quickly followed but there was no need. Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, the era’s most infamous mobster, already was dead.
Ironically, hundreds of miles away, in a desert outpost called Las Vegas, Siegel’s gambling dream was alive and well and just beginning to prosper.
Ben Siegel first came west in 1937 to California to organize the mob’s lucrative narcotics, prostitution and bookmaking enterprises there. A much-feared New York criminal who by his early 20s already had committed several murders, Siegel had partners in crime including the underworld elite, from Meyer Lansky - with whom he’d formed an execution squad that predated Murder Inc. by seven years - to Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Dutch Schultz, Albert Anastasia, Legs Diamond, Arnold Rothstein, Vito Genovese and Frank Nitti. Except for his movie star good looks, Siegel fit right in.
By 1945 Siegel had used a combination of bribery and deadly force to consolidate his power in California, buying off cops and politicians and killing those who couldn’t be bought. Three years earlier, in 1942, he’d taken over control of Las Vegas’ racewire services, charging the hotels exorbitant fees for the racetrack information.
But Siegel had bigger plans for Las Vegas.
Early in 1946 he decided to build the largest and most lavish casino in the world there. But it wouldn’t be just a casino. There’d be a hotel, too, with carefully manicured grounds, a swimming pool, restaurant, bar and nightclub. There’d be nothing like it anywhere on the planet and as soon as it opened on a patch of inexpensive land at the desolate southern end of what would later be called the Strip - Las Vegas Boulevard - Siegel instantly would be transformed from mobster to mogul. He’d be America’s king of gambling. It’d all be legit, too.
But the casino, which Siegel called the “Fabulous Flamingo Hotel,” was horribly under funded. Siegel had invested his own ill-gotten fortune, about $1 million, in what was estimated to be a $1.5 million venture. But the hotel’s plumbing alone cost $1 million and building supplies, particularly steel and copper, were scarce in post-war America. Siegel paid extra to get them.
The tab for the project quickly soared to $6 million, an incredible sum at the time. Siegel raised $3 million in stock sales and got the rest the Mob, extorting $2 million through the sale of his TransAmerica racewire service, an audacious move that later cost him his life.
On Dec. 26, 1946, with Virginia Hill at his side and Jimmy Durante in his nightclub, Siegel opened the Flamingo Hotel. It was a terrible disappointment. Bad weather had grounded many of Siegel’s celebrity friends in Los Angeles and, as luck would have it, the casino lost heavily the first night. Two weeks later, $100,000 in the hole, the Flamingo closed.
On March 27, 1947, Siegel reopened the Flamingo. For three weeks, the casino continued to lose money. Then, finally, as it often happens for those who accept wagers, red turned to black. In May, the casino cleared $300,000.
Three weeks later, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, 41, was dead. But the town he built, the gambling and sports betting Mecca known as Las Vegas, was just coming to life.
This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.thegreek.com.
Visit The Greek Sports Book for more Sportsbook Articles and Sports Betting information.
Sports Betting’s Key Question: Can You Win?
June 17, 2008
For most sports betting enthusiasts, the key question is whether to lay or take the points.
No wonder the vast majority of gamblers lose.
The crucial question, one that sports bettors rarely think to ask, is “Can I win?” The fact is, most people who engage in sports betting rarely question whether they have the ability to beat the house. It’s not a question of intelligence–though it never hurts to be smart - but whether you truly understand the role of probability, whether you can determine a good wager from one that is bad and whether you have the requisite discipline to maximize your chances of success.
Let’s start with the basics. Most bettors understand that they lay $11 to win $10 in the world’s two most popular point spread games, football and basketball. So what’s the sportsbook’s edge and what percentage of games must you win to break even?
Since the bettor lays $11 to win $10, he must accumulate 11 wins for every 10 losses to break even. That’s just 52.4 percent (11/21 = .524), an encouraging enough figure given how many unsophisticated bettors think the sportsbook edge is 10 percent. Since anyone should be able to pick 50 percent of the games correctly at random, overcoming that additional 2.4 percent shouldn’t be too high an obstacle to clear, right?
It wouldn’t be if, in the above example, bettors bet the same amount on each game. But many gamblers often “chase,” doubling, tripling and even quadrupling their sports bets in an effort to recoup their original lost bet. They throw good money after bad, an undisciplined approach that often can be seen on the blackjack tables. Professional players know better, wagering a consistent amount on each game, understanding that there’s no such thing as a “best bet.”
To that point, I once asked a grizzled veteran what is best bet ever was. His reply was, “I hope it’s my next bet.”
Football and basketball bettors also lose because they stray from straight side betting to exotics, playing multiple wagers where the sportsbook edge can be extraordinarily high.
For example, while the true odds on a two-team parlay are 3/1, many books offer 13/5. I won’t bore you with the math but trust me when I tell you that the sportsbook advantage on a two-team parlay at 13/5 is 10 percent, four times greater than it is on a straight bet.
The real odds on a three-team parlay are 7/1 but many sportsbooks offer 6/1 on you stringing a trio of winners together. That seemingly slim edge boosts the house advantage to 12.5 percent.
And if you’re foolhardy enough to play a four-team parlay at 10/1 (when the true odds are 15/1), the house edge climbs to an astounding 31.3 percent.
Parlay cards, which usually are printed at the beginning of a week, are an equally, and sometimes worse, bet for the gambler, especially if you don’t read the fine print.
On many parlay cards, the odds are listed as “for 1″ instead of “to 1.” The difference is that “3 for 1″ means you get back $3 for every $1 wagered and “3 to 1″ means you win $3 for every $1 bet (get back $4).
Like parlays and parlay cards, teasers, money line wagers and future books also have an added advantage for the house. While it’s certainly true that some professional players dabble in futures, most do so only as part of an overall wagering scheme. For example, a player who held a Super Bowl future book bet on the Patriots at odds of 6/1 might want to also place a wager on the Giants, thus assuring his profit, as history now proves.
Can you win? It’s a question all sports betting enthusiasts should ask themselves before placing their first wager.
This article was written by Luken Karel for http://www.thegreek.com. The Greek Sportsbook & Casino is host to one of the top online sportsbooks offering sports betting on NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and all other major sports. The Greek is a must have sports betting and entertainment portal with one of the largest wagering menus available online. Article reproductions must include a link pointing to http://www.thegreek.com.
Visit The Greek Sports Book for more Sportsbook Articles and Sports Betting information.
Featured Gambling Articles
- Bet Jamaica Preview — Miami Hurricanes vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- Bet Jamaica Preview — Southern Illinois Salukis vs. Duke Blue Devils
- Bet Jamaica Preview — Vancouver Canucks vs. Minnesota Wild
- Bet Jamaica Daily Sports Roundup: November 20
- NBA Betting - Lakers and Suns primed to put up the points